Review of The House of Yes (1997) by Blake P — 29 Feb 2012

Meet Jackie-O (Posey), the insane sister who thinks she's Jackie Kennedy, the matriarch (Bujold), the naive little brother Anthony (Prinze Jr.), and Jackie-O's twin brother Marty (Hamilton). The family together is eccentric, especially Jackie-O and Marty, who had an incestuous relationship in the past.

But when Thanksgiving comes, Marty decides to bring a guest, who he says is a "friend" ... but is really his fiancée Lesly (Spelling). Considering Jackie-O still wants to have all the sex in the world with her twin brother, she instantly goes into a jealous rage, which ends up leading to murder.

"The House of Yes" is one of those comedies that you've never heard of, but the second you watch it it really hits you in the face. If a film makes open fun of the JFK assassination, plays the incest card, and gets more and more twisted every second, it may come off a little strong, but if you're willing to kick back and enjoy its absurdities, you WILL have a good time.

"The House of Yes" is one of the funniest, most unique independent comedies I've ever seen, and boasts brilliant writing and superb acting. The film only has one setting (that big mansion that seems to appear in the title), but it is never boring, and only gets more entertaining.

This is a great film, but I think for a fact I would forget about it by tomorrow if not for the fantastic performances by each and every one of the cast members. Posey, just might give her best performance of all time here, is consistently funny but still able to cast off such talent, and Spelling, who I always thought was just a big set of fake body parts and fake hair is very good as well.

And as a bonus we do get an Oscar-nominee (Bujold) in the small cast, and former teen-idol Prinze Jr. doing something that shows off his chops. "The House of Yes" is so dark and twisted that it makes for one of the most interesting comedies I've seen.

It packs such a punch in its short 85 minutes. Recommended.